Thomson

It’s a heck of a way to run a pre-election campaign. On the eve of an expected election, politicians usually spend their time playing up good news, downplaying the bad, shaking hands and kissing babies.

Wedding tales As beautiful as the great outdoors

Edmonton couple’s celebrations turn into a moveable feast

Derek and Venessa Lazurko were married in their favourite place, Whistler, B.C., by Lost Lake in September 2010. The day started grey and chilly, but the sun broke through as they exchanged vows.

Photograph by: Supplied
, edmontonjournal.com

A wedding is a moment in time, a milestone not only in the lives of the two people getting married, but of the family and friends who gather for the occasion. A culmination of a love story, each one is as unique as a fingerprint. Twice a month, the Style section will profile recently married couples, sharing the story of their love, their proposal and, ultimately, their wedding.

Derek and Venessa Lazurko laughingly refer to their nuptials as Wedding Tour 2010, an occasion that spanned three provinces and several weeks.

The main event was held at Lost Lake near Whistler Village with 20 guests attending. That was followed by receptions in both Edmonton and Regina, where a couple of hundred members of their respective Ukrainian families — and friends — got their chance to celebrate the culmination of a love story that began in cyberspace.

When they found each other on an online dating site, Derek had already given notice at his apartment in Edmonton, planning to move back to his hometown of Regina.

He never got there.

One date turned into two, then into three, until finally he moved into his buddy’s basement and contemplated his options. By the time Venessa invited him over for a home-cooked meal — chicken cacciatore made from scratch — he knew he was a goner.

“After that first time I cooked for him, he was smitten,” says Venessa, laughing.

“He admitted to me later that that’s when he realized he really liked me and wanted to stick around to see where things went.”

A year later, the two were sharing a condo — and an adorable little Boston terrier puppy they named Axel. An extended road trip to B.C., where Venessa got her first taste of mountain biking in Whistler, sealed the deal for both of them and within weeks of their return they went shopping for a ring.

Much to her dismay, time passed with no sign of a proposal, despite the fact they had found “the one” at their favourite jewellers. One night after dinner, over a basket of clean laundry, she started asking Derek some rather pointed questions as they folded clothes.

“Why are we not engaged yet?”

“Why did we go shopping for a ring if you weren’t going to propose?”

They were questions she would come to regret. Unbeknownst to her, Derek had picked up “the one” that very day on his way home from work. Without a word, he left the room and returned seconds later, a small black velvet box balanced in the palm of his hand.

“I felt terrible for grilling him and immediately started to cry,” she says. “He told me how much he loved me and cared about me, and how he’s ‘not good at romantic gestures’ but that he wanted to share his life with me.”

And there in the kitchen of their condo, their puppy Axel at their feet, Derek proposed.

Derek’s parents got the news the next day when they arrived for a visit, and the four of them celebrated by “going to the place every Saskatchewanian we know loves to go when they visit Edmonton — Olive Garden!”

That September, a year after they were engaged, and two years after they first met, Derek and Venessa were married in their favourite place, Whistler.

In the days leading to the ceremony, the rain fell constantly, and they feared their outdoor ceremony would be washed out. Their wedding day dawned dry, if a tad chilly and grey, and remained that way all day. And in the moment they joined hands to recite their vows, the sun came out in force and continued shining until it was swallowed by the mountains.

“It was beautiful,” says Venessa. “All in all, our wedding was us — laid-back, outdoorsy and intimate. We even managed to take some photos with our downhill mountain bikes — a huge highlight.

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